Altos' 1st Portfolio Company Pandora TV... Stepped Down from the Video Throne, but 'Web 3.0' Performance is Questionable

Once commanding the market as South Korea's first-generation video platform, Pandora TV. Unlike the past when it received glamorous spotlight as the first portfolio company of Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) firm Altos Ventures, it is now thoroughly alienated from market attention. It has already been three years since it folded its video service. In the midst of this, it was recently confirmed that the company took out a massive loan of 7 billion won to purchase an office building, drawing attention to the future moves of the company, which has failed to produce significant results since its pivot (business structure transformation).

7 Billion Won Loan Amidst Indifference... Purchase of Pangyo Office Building Draws Attention

Pandora TV, which was fading from the public's memory, caught attention again due to an unexpected large-scale borrowing of funds. Pandora TV raised a long-term borrowing of 7 billion won for the purpose of acquiring land and buildings to relocate its headquarters during 2025. In fact, the company moved its headquarters to Pangyo-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do (Pangyo Seven Venture Valley 1) as of June 11 last year. Although it has distanced itself from the market's spotlight, behind the scenes, it appears to be quietly expanding its size by taking on a considerable debt of 7 billion won to secure its own office building.

3 Years After Ending Video Service, a 'Web 3.0 Company' That Even Altos Left

It was in January 2023, already more than three years ago, that Pandora TV terminated its flagship service 'Pandora TV', which it launched in 2004 as the world's first (according to Pandora TV; YouTube started in 2005). The company, which had been on a path of decline pushed by YouTube and others, stepped down from the video throne early on and declared a business structure transformation into a blockchain-based Web 3.0 company. Since then, it has barely maintained its existence centering on the global media player 'KMPlayer' and blockchain platforms 'MovieBloc' and 'Cobak'.

However, the market's harsh evaluation led to the 'cutting losses' of its early investor. Altos Ventures, which had formed a relationship by investing 6 billion won in 2006 seeing the potential of Pandora TV, eventually packed its bags bitterly in 2024, after 18 years, disposing of its 13.76% stake for only 800 million won due to poor performance. It was an incident that showed a shabby cross-section of the first-generation venture myth.

Profits Cut in Half, Will It Prove Its Real Performance After the Pivot?

Despite spending 7 billion won to build a new nest, the report card for its main business, the Web 3.0 business, remains at a 'questionable' level even after three years. Pandora TV's consolidated sales in 2025 were 14.1 billion won, down 15.5% from the previous year (16.6 billion won), and its net income amounted to only 890 million won, a sharp drop of more than half compared to the previous year (about 2 billion won). Despite being given sufficient time of three years since the pivot, it has failed to prove explosive external growth or a clear performance turnaround.

In addition, the virtual assets held by the company are becoming an element of financial instability. The auditor, Taeil Accounting Corporation, called attention to the volatility of the fair value of digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which the company accounts for as intangible assets, through the 2025 audit report. It pointed out that due to the nature of virtual assets being revalued according to active market prices, the prices fluctuate significantly even after the end of the reporting period, which could have a massive and unpredictable impact on future financial conditions.

Pandora TV, a first-generation video platform company that once surprised the world. Out of the public's interest, quietly securing a new office building with a 7 billion won loan, the market is calmly watching to see if they can establish a meaningful revenue model and produce results in the Web 3.0 business that has been sluggish for over three years.